nope. not a bit. i am clinically depressed and part of it it related to ptsd i acquired by waking up during eye surgery when i was three. my atheism is just a description of the fact that at the age of 15 i realized that there are no gods, and have had no reason since then to reverse that realization. by the way, depression is not the same thing as sadness, or grief. it is an illness. it has to do with neurotransmitters in the brain and those are not affected by atheism.

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My atheism and depression run concurrently. I don't think one caused the other, but I think it would be naive to assume that there isn't some kind of correlation.

No, in many ways my atheism helps me deal with my depression. When I was a believer, the constant feeling that this was happening to me because I wasn't faithful enough or was somehow inherently deserving of suffering was kind of soul crushing. Once I realized that what it was crushing was just my sense of self worth and that there was no soul to worry about, I began to accept it as simply a physiological condition which required specific mechanisms and medications to control.

For me, death was always a part of life, I studied science early on, and understood the necessity of death in any rapidly propagating species. I feel grief over my loss, not over someone else's death.

I'd rather never see them again than believe that they were condemned to hell?

I have had issues with depression for most of my life. I was having them when I still bought into the religion and catholicism thing. If anything, the alienation I felt from the depression that religion did not help or bring comfort for may have contributed to my agnosticism, but atheism/agnosticism did not cause my depression. That has more to do with neurotransmitter imbalances than it does with religion or no religion.

Those who have religion must have an awful time of it. Always wondering if they have accrued enough points in their short lives to avoid the eternal fires. Now that I've seen the fabric of delusion for what it is, I can breathe easy and judge my self. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." seems to work most of the time.

To me this is a trap. In the beginning it did think it contribute to my depression.
Then I started to think about everything (as much as I could). I realized what does thinking about our purpose mean? Our purpose is to procrate. The rest is in our heads. I know this sucks to think about, but to me it is the truth. What we make of the time we have is up to us.
Trust me this sucks! My son is struggling with this right now; and I still do. When my ex told me she was done I had a hard time moving forward. I had to find ways to to prove to myself I wasn't a lost cause. Life isn't easy but you have to take it day by day. I am not the happiest person, but I can't let someone else determine my happiness.

If you can't do it alone please seek help. Hopefully the people here can help without the higher power bullshit.

Though I don't have depression, I do think being an atheist does make coping with death harder. For me anyway. That's about the only time I "wish" I believed. I believe that belief in "seeing them again" makes it easier for many.

No completely unrelated, really. Mine was generally due to poor coping mechanisms and cognitive errors.

Whatever gets you through Daisy. You don't have to answer to anyone but yourself about what you would like to believe. You may see them again. We don't know. Rationale is great if you have nothing on your mind but sometimes rationale can cause unnecessary neuroses. And in the words of the cartoonist Ashleigh Brilliant from the late 60's I think. "I've given up my search for Truth and now looking for a good fantasy!"

Wow, sorry it affected you that way. I got depressed later I think, but not worrying about going to hell has probably made me slightly less depressed, if anything. I take it you didn't worry about that outcome? What religion were you raised in?

Religion caused depression for me. It went away when I stopped believing.

No my atheism is of absolutely no account to me I take life and death as it comes and that doesn't bother me either; although it probably would if it were my partner; but its a natural event and a free country you can react any way you want.

For me atheism alleviated a lot of my death related anxiety and depression. I think it's different for everyone. By any interpretation of Christianity, it was likely that my mother was not exactly a saint. I mean, she was to me. But I'm a realist. Her death left me questioning if I even believed in hell. I concluded I did not. It was my first step in honesty to myself. But I wasn't really sure, and that maybe, what if, hung over my head. In relegating my religious upbringing to the past and simply living, I found myself able to bring my mother to the afterlife I do believe in. The one where lessons taught and love given continue to live on in memories of loved ones. Finding my way to that vantage point has been a massive relief.

I think being atheist, it was more comfortable for me to reach out for help with my depression, versus blind faith.

No I have always been an atheist never been a theist - depression is something that hits everyone at some point. I think I had to sort of 'get ' the world and how it works - Yes people let you down they die they don't keep their promises etc.etc. and we learn how to cope in such a world as this is all there is. I think truly getting a life is when you achieve some measure of self confidence and build on that get stronger 9not harder ) just stronger enough to take the knocks because it is all so random. One day you have a dog the next day not - you learn to grieve and so it goes ... you learn all the time how to deal with living.

No. On the contrary. No more fears and no more guilt.

Have to agree with some of the other commentators here, I was way more depressed when living under the weight of Christianity. Although I don't believe in a God, I do believe our energy (soul?) carries on in another form... call it reincarnation, transference? Althoug we may not 'see' or friends and loved ones again in the same form, I believe we may connect with them in other ways, in other lifetimes~

I think I was more depressed as a Christian than as an atheist. I did not like being a sinner who had to beg forgiveness of a god I had not wronged. I also never had a religious epiphany as so many claimed to. I went to a church full of speaking in tongues and whatnot, so I was not compatible with their beliefs. Especially when I talked about the parts of the Bible where people doubted--their view was that Jesus showed Thomas the holes in his hand as a rebuke, rather than evidence, for example.
I am definitely better off now.

Yes it has. My limited social circle was very religious. Becoming agnostic pretty much cut that circle off including family. Hard not to take it personal. But it also showed me the people who truly do care for me as a person

You might want to read Ernest Becker, particularly Denial of Death, to start to shift your thinking on the topic of death, dying, (im)mortality, meaning and purpose.

No. I don't have the pressure of religious guilt or oppressive teachings.

No. I don't have the pressure of religious guilt or oppressive teachings.

I've been an Atheist since I was a baby I have no basis for comparison

Atheism makes me happier. I'm free to think for myself, including how I regard death. @birdingnut makes a good point.

Death is always hard. Grief is normal and shows that you are a fine, caring person.